George “Duke” Corregan was born on August 20, 1897 in Boston,
Massachusetts. As a newsboy, he sent off for a trick and a catalog from the
Hornmann Magic Company. He saw their ad in an old New York newspaper. He then
discovered the Bailey and Tripp Magic Shop in his hometown of Boston. Sam
Bailey took young Corregan under his wing, and taught him magic, gave ideas,
and sold him apparatus. The following art work is a pencil drawing that may
have led to future advertising.
 |
| From the Author's Collection |
Duke grew up and became proficient in all types of magic,
including sleight-of-hand, escapes, chalk talks, and acting as emcee for magic
club shows. He was a very early member of the I.B.M., holding member #41. He was admitted to the S.A.M in 1922 as #924,
under the name of Geo. C. Corregan, Jr. From there in the different magic
magazines of the time, that middle initial kept changing like it was some kind
of magic trick.
Corregan ran ads in the magazines in the twenties and that
middle initial just kept changing. Here are five ads, each one with a different
middle initial.
So, which initial was the correct one? We will let his
throw-out card decide that question. On the card shown below, George is using
the middle initial G. According to Duke’s obituary in M-U-M, his middle name
was Gilmore. The back of the card is the Roterberg/Stanyon Back design
that is discussed elsewhere on this site.
Besides his interest in magic, Corregan also worked for, and
later owned a photography studio in the Boston area. I found a number of photos
in the magic magazines attributed to him. Duke was on the cover of M-U-M
magazine for the month of April of 1963.
George Gilmore Corregan, Jr. passed away on June 23, 1971.
“For nearly fifty years a highly respected and influential member of Boston
Assembly No. 9” said the obituary in M-U-M magazine.
